Mumbai, Oct 3 (IANS) Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh's home town, Latur, and the Sikh religious town of Nanded will come on the country's civil aviation map Saturday with an inaugural flight from Mumbai, an official said here Friday.
The flight to Nanded, around 625 km from Mumbai, will immensely benefit thousands of Sikhs from India and around the world who are planning to visit there this month on the occasion of the 300th anniversary celebrations of Gurta Gaddi Guru Granth Sahib of Khalsa Sikh Panth.
Keeping in view the sentiments of the predominantly Sikh population of Nanded, the airport has been named "Shri Guru Gobind Singhji Airport".
The town also has a monument 'Shri Huzur Abchalanager Sachkhand Gurudwara', dedicated to the 10th Sikh Guru, which is visited by millions of devotees throughout the year, the official said.
Nanded, with a population of 500,000, had a small airstrip constructed 50 years ago and was upgraded in 1974 to handle Vayudoot and other small and private aircraft flights. However, all commercial operations ceased from the airport in 1990.
Now, the airport has been upgraded at a cost of Rs.940 million and the facilities available include a huge terminal building to handle 300 passengers and a runway to handle big aircraft like Boeing 737s and Airbus 319-320.
It also now has three parking bays for large aircraft, six check-in counters, and all other passenger and flight operations facilities, including night operations.
Latur Airport, originally a small one constructed in 1991, has been upgraded at a cost of nearly Rs.140 million and has all required facilities, including a new runway and night landing facilities.
Kingfisher Airlines will operate a regular service on the new Mumbai-Nanded-Latur sector, departing here at 6 a.m., halting at Nanded and reaching Latur at 8.20 a.m.
The flight will depart from Latur at 8.45 a.m. and after a halt at Nanded, arrive in Mumbai at 10.10 a.m. The flights will operate Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Apart from Mumbai, the two new airports shall gradually serve other airports in the vicinity like Aurangabad, Nagpur, Pune and Hyderabad, the official said.
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